Surprising nearly everyone–their families had conducted memorial services–once again they proved that lost doesn’t mean lost for good.

The ultimate beauty of this story should serve to teach us all that survival, grit and determination are latent in human beings, that we can truly survive when outstanding odds are stacked against us. We may not be comfortable, we may get a little cold and hungry or a bit warm and thirsty, we may even fill with boredom, panic and fear, but we can survive. We can all have faith in our fortitude, it’s a part of who we are.

You and I are a the product of thousands and thousands of years of walking. Be it out of Eden or Africa we walked out into wilderness full of challenges, hardships and threats to our very existence, and yet we survived . Humans, if nothing else, are survivors.

Huffington Post has the details of the above story.

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1. I believe we all come from the Earth. Big Bang or Big Breath, Science or the Sacred we all have Dirt in our DNA.

2. Whether we walked out of the Garden of Eden or the savannas of Africa, either way, we walked. We’re nomads and survivalists and preppers at heart.

3. I believe, like John Adams in “the bloom of life” and the individual responsibility of each of us to nurture that bloom in the pursuit of happiness.

4. I believe in individual sovereignty, responsibility and success through self-reliance with limited government interference in that pursuit.

5. As far as the debates between republicans and democrats, between the red states and blue states, I tend to look at the political spectrum as a ReBl, a blend of the best of both. If I had to choose, I’m more inclined to be a libertarian/centrist than anything else.

6. I’m pretty much done with political correctness, the Needia and the spin that permeates the political debate.

7. Sadly, it’s time for us all to become Political Survival Experts.

8. I believe in the individual right to keep and bear arms and the responsibility to protect your family and friends from those with violent intentions.

9. I believe in helping others not because we should (government handouts), but because we can (honor and karma).

10. My life is suffused with reasons to be thankful and is therefore grounded in a gratefulness to The Divine.

Wow. Way too long. Here’s the pitch.

It’s a show about self-reliant, giving, nomadic centrists with dirt in their blood, gratitude in their hearts and a “keep and bear arms” attitude in their minds that are tired of political correctness and journalistic spin, and now calling upon others to become political survival experts in the 21st Century. With no apologies, the show strives to highlight the differences between the Ballsy and the Bonsai, those pursuing happiness full-on and those potted plants waiting for someone else to cultivate it for them.

That works for now…..

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According to an article in the Huffington Post, a Somali boat, filled with brainless bandits opened fire on the USS Ashland, mounting the third such attack in two weeks. One would think, that after President Obama gave the order to kill the pirates that took U.S. Maersk Alamba Captain Richard Phillips hostage last year, they would wake up just a bit.

The captains on these outlaw skiffs must be the greatest motivational speakers ever. Move over Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins. Can you imagine giving, better yet, following the order to “open fire” on a U.S. Navy warship? For a new definition of lunatic looters, I nominate the latest round of Somali simpletons.

As for our side, I’m all over pirate diplomacy backed with a bit of gunpowder!

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Recently, a parent pulled her children from a Tae Kwon Do school near my home. Lambasting the process of “physical fighting” and “rough combat” the parent angrily removed the kids from the school in protest. Theorizing, apparently, that they had inadvertently enrolled the youngsters in a Korean folk-dancing class and not a Martial Arts Academy, they refused to participate any further. So, NO black belt!

Though the parents absolutely have the right to remove their children at will, what exactly were they thinking? They attended the Black Belt program for the past four years and as they readied themselves for the final testing, full-contact-sparring was introduced into the workouts. Students donned head gear, chest pads and gloves in preparing to trade punches and kicks. Under the watchful eye of a Tae Kwon Do Master, the equally matched students test their forms, fighting skills and philosophy of honor and compassion. Those that successfully blend the three are certified as Black Belts; there are no handouts. Sweat, blood and muscle aches entitle you, nothing else.

It makes me wonder of the declining attitudes towards Life. When did we start handing out trophies for last place? When did inculcating the belief that you win just for showing up take root? Have we become such a Nanny-Society that the truth of Life’s struggle is covered-over with participatory ribbons and golden stars? Why do we lie to our children about winners and losers? What use is self esteem if it is rooted in deception? What good is a Black Belt if you haven’t earned it?

From my birth with a harelip to my dealings as a young boy with a Catholic priest, to my Father’s suicide and the note he left blaming me, to the nightmares of Hurricane Katrina’s destructive aftermath and the concerns for the future that we all face, I wouldn’t trade one moment of my uphill climb, nor would I take a downhill if you gave it to me. I am one of the luckiest people I know.

Life, in its bountiful magnificence, is a struggle. You get smacked down, to stand up and square your shoulders yet again, you spit out a bit of blood, asking of Fate with a smile on your face “is that all you got?” Take a punch, give a punch, pick up and move forward.

That it can be frightening is what makes it fantastic. Life is a fight; nothing is either fair or free and that’s it’s ultimate, sublime beauty.

To the parents who pulled their children from Tae Kwon Do…good riddance.

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The debate between Science and Religion, the sacred and the secular battles between the pulpit and the petri dish do share  a unique and important similarity.  Whether you believe we walked out of the Garden of Eden or off the Savannas of Africa, there is common ground….we walked.

Evolution or Eviction, the Human Race has grown, if not matured, through interaction and exploration. Our minds, and our environments are intimately melded together. Part Nature. Part Nurture. The Human mind recreates itself continually through the exchange of context, crafted by both circumstance and the conditions surrounding it.

In the ultimate “Chicken or the Egg” scenario, our brains grow within our past and current relationships and surroundings. One creates and nurtures the other.

Building on the concept of Mind-Ups, a term I coined shortly after my dad’s suicide, I began looking at the things you can do to make your mind  as rock-hard-tough and . (More on Phat-free tomorrow) Interaction and Exploration are vitally important to a vibrant, thriving mind. Though we might find comfort in the static, our minds depend on the dynamic.

The key to growing your mind, your brain is stimulation. NOT stimulants. STIMULATION. Stimulating books,  thought-provoking conversations, an engaging debate, a challenging sunset hike, trying new things, facing fears and phobias, doing the unthinkable, letting your hair down. Give your self permission to explore outside your physical and psychological boundaries. Get outside the box from time to time. From cribs, to cliques, to cubicles to finally coffins, we spend enough time confined by personal and societal boundaries. Explore the periphery, push your limits, physically and mentally and your mind will smile back at you! Our minds don’t like marches, our brains thrive outside of borders and boundaries. Your 3 pounds of gray matter doesn’t excel with the normal, it digs the nomadic. It’s truly that simple.

Once again, my disclaimer. ** I am not a doctor, a psychologist or psychiatrist.** Now, for those of us that suffer from a diagnosed, major clinical depression or chemical disorder, only the valuable time spent with your doctor, will hash out a plan, best suited for you.

Please join me tomorrow for day 4 of the 7 Keys to a Healthy Mind; A Diet of Food and Thoughts

Technically, forbidden trees or dwindling trees, either way you look at it, we were evicted and subsequently began to figure on our own feet. From that point forward, our brains and minds reasoned on the run. We think at our best when our feet and hands get dirty.

“What other animal retires?” Michael Roberts is quoted on CNN. “If a lion retires today, tomorrow morning he becomes his brother’s breakfast.”

DNA is designed for deployment and discovery.

Exploration is just another word for Evolution.

Do you find it at all interesting that the first two pages of a Google search for Dwindling Habitats contained references to Rhinos, Polar Bears, Grizzly Bears, Bats, Scrub Jays, Tigers, Lions, Mountain Lions, Frogs, Owls, Grouse and even mice, yet no mentions of humans losing their habitat; not a single reference.

The habitats, jungles, forests, savannahs, mountains, the dynamic circumstances that our distant cousins faced, the natural surroundings that forged who we are, are dwindling fast. No longer do we search for food under the constant threat of becoming food. Instead of hunting for dinner we head to the grocery store, we needn’t chop wood because we have electric heat, why bother walking into a pharmacist’s counter to get your prescription medications for high blood pressure and cholesterol when you can just sit and hit the drive-up window? Finding water is easy, we just turn on the faucet!

The ubiquitous challenge and constant change that crafted us, one step at a time, is replaced with the status quo of comfort zones and its contraptions of convenience. We no longer scamper and scavenge and have long since forgotten how to fend for ourselves, in the wilderness abroad or within our very own minds. Our innate abilities to rally against unimaginable odds, lay dormant, withered and weakened. Without jungles to negotiate, hungry predators to protect against, mountains to climb and rivers to cross, our body and mind is slowly changing, atrophying actually.

We are at an evolutionary junction and it is up to each of us, individually, to choose our path through the fork in the road.

In the challenges that currently face us all, our best bet is to fall back on our inner-ability to struggle, survive and thrive. Our modern day  jungles, and the predators that prowell them, are made of sidewalks, business suits, briefcases and congressional bills. These forests are full of those prowling for prey.

A friend on FaceBook yesterday reminded me of the quote. “It is the North Wind that made the Vikings.” It instantly made me think of Frederick Douglas, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress” and most certainly of John Page’s question to Thomas Jefferson at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “Do you not think an Angel rides in the Whirlwind and directs this Storm?”

Thankfully, the skills and logic needed to survive and thrive are buried within each of us; they’ve been there since we started The Walk.

You’ve done it.

We are all guilty of it.

But why do we walk in circles when we are lost?

A great study, “Walking Straight into Circles” was reported on today in Current Biology and expanded upon in ScienceNOW with the article “Why we Walk in Circles.”

Seems when we are lost, and have no visual clue to use for course correction (Sun, Moon), our brain works hard to make sense of where we are headed. Problem is, without a visual endpoint, we tend to meander. Once we start down this slippery slope, our brain repeats tiny mistakes in direction and continually repeats these directional miscues bringing us right back where we started.

I remember once being told, perhaps by Tony Robbins, that a plane “on course” to Hawaii is of course 98% of the time and the pilot redirects the plane in tiny maneuvers to keep it going straight.

Now, it’s easy to throw in some crappy little quote here on “The need for a goal in life” and I suspect some reading this post will have already circled around to that conclusion. Oh, well.

I suggest another interpretation, a bit more biologically straight forward. When we walked out of Africa, or out of Eden, we followed the Sun. From the earliest hints of morning rising, we searched onward and used every last bit of available sunlight to highlight our steps.

Like Buried Logic, our need to follow the sun for direction is deeply embedded into our biology. Early on in human history, we walked where the light was.

I began to wonder about buried logic, our intrinsic abilities and essential characteristics that I believe we each possess. These innate, deep-rooted skills have evolved from the very beginning of our human family tree. Out of Africa or Eden, we walked out with aptitudes for survival, creativity, courage and prowess. Regardless, your great, great, great, great, great ancestors were true “BA’s,” plain and simple. Humans, prior to microwaves, electric garage-door openers, thermostats and public opinion polls possessed every skill they needed to walk out, then over and around the face of the earth.

Maybe it’s a miserable case of amnesia. Maybe it’s arrogance. Maybe political correctness. Maybe Cowardice. We seem to have forgotten, or chosen to ignore, who we are, all the while, acting as if we’ve “evolved” to higher intelligence, skill set or station.

That so many look outside themselves for what they naturally possess already, plays itself out on the news every evening. Look around today. Everywhere one turns, these skills have atrophied like any muscle in a cast. Personal strength, flexibility and caliber are fading away.

What are we to do?

I suggest it begins with a remembering, a recollection of how humanity has evolved, survived and stretched out to cover ages and the globe. Then remember the Symmetric Property of Equality.

Ignoring the debate between science and religion, the “big bang” or the “big breath”, our planet is the common ground.

Did we walk out of Africa or were we banished from Eden?

Descent with modification or disobeying the forbidden fruit rule?

Do you side with the opinions of the petri dish or those of the pulpit?

Between the polarities, there is one inescapable origin we can’t ignore. Literally the ground we share.

Earth, it’s where we come from. At base, this elemental source is one that is latent in each one of us. From a Savannah or a Garden, dirt is dirt, the soil, the mud that holds the roots of the human family tree is the very same Dirt in Your DNA.

When it comes to battling those actively or apathetically pursuing the destruction of our planet, our challenge, you and me, right now, is to never forget where we come from. For those that treat our planet as a stepping stone to some future heaven or those treating Mother Nature as an entitlement, our goal is to find ways of reminding them where they come from as well.

Always help others with their origin amnesia.

Never forget where you come from.

Your destiny is written in the dirt.